No stopping Pidgeon as he flies in with a treble in super Moore win

Didsbury Toc H III 26

Moore 46 MOORE recorded back-to-back victories for the first time this year after an impressive win at Didsbury Toc H’s third-team last Saturday afternoon.

A quick-starting Moore were able to run up an impressive 19-0 lead with excellent play from their backline as they were able to exploit gaps in the Didsbury defence.

An excellent use of the overlap saw Sam Craven open the scoring, quickly followed by a super score by Joe Pidgeon.

There could have been a trifecta of Moore backline tries, but wing Craig Millington was held up short of the whitewash.

Teammate Jack Harvey was instead able to convert.

The hosts were able to re-establish themselves in the game thanks to some strong running from their forwards.

As ever, Moore did not help their cause around the ruck and were constantly giving yards away from penalties.

This allowed Didsbury to pick up two fairly cheap scores to bring the game to 19-12 at the half-time interval.

Eager to resist similar slip-ups that have already happened this season, Moore set out in the second half to secure the game.

A great kick-and-chase from the restart saw Moore pressure Didsbury into making a poor clearance.

The ball was recycled well and Pidgeon was able to carve through the home side’s defence for his second score.

Again, Didsbury looked to come back into the game and started to advance up the field, again using well recycled balls at breakdowns.

Their persistence paid off and Didsbury were able to grab a score to take it to 26-19 and leave the game looking somewhat more wide open.

Moore were able to finally take control of the encounter with an finely-worked move from the blindside which saw debutant prop-forward Ash Wakefield crash over from short range to increase the lead to 31-19.

From there, Moore started to dictate play and manage the clock well.

With Didsbury desperate to get back into the clash they looked to try to stretch Moore, but an awry pass was kicked through by Craven for another score and really seal the game with under 15 minutes to go.

Didsbury kept pushing and used an excellent driving maul to good effect, picking up a penalty try after Moore collapsed the maul.

Didsbury attempted the same tactics moments later, but this time the Moore pack were well aware of the plan and were able to nullify it easily, really signalling the end of the home XV’s attacking threat in the game.

The game was not yet over, and Pidgeon was able to secure his hat-trick on the day and eighth try of the season with another terrific break to finish the game at 45-26 in the visitors’ favour.

The result sees Moore move up into fifth place in the North West Rugby Union Intermediate League Division Three South after five games of the season.

Moore have a rest week this weekend before playing host to Knutsford’s first XV on Saturday, October 13.